Computer system applications typically generate user interfaces for the controlling of a device statically using data that has been hard coded into an operating system of the computer, or from a software module such as a device driver or application extensions under the control of an operating system installed on the computer system.
In many cases, the device drivers, applications or application extensions are developed by both a device's manufacturer and the software developer of the operating system installed on the computer system. For example, Microsoft Windows XP® requires device manufacturers to develop device drivers which conform to the Windows XP driver development kit. In many cases, this limits the ability of device manufacturers from fully utilizing all of the features incorporated into their devices when used with the Windows XP operating system.
Moreover, the goals of the device manufacturer and software developer of the operating system usually diverge as the device manufacturer seeks to respond to market demand for its device while the software developer of the operating system seeks to standardize functionality for a broad range of devices in order to ensure operating system stability, minimize device conflicts or prevent the introduction of security vulnerabilities.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.